The ‘no no penguins’ holding back Burnside Council: Councillor Henry Davis urges colleagues to make tough decisions
AN eastern suburbs council is being held back by “no no penguins” reluctant to make tough decisions, its youngest elected member says.
BURNSIDE Council is being held back by “no no penguins” reluctant to make tough decisions, its youngest elected member says.
Cr Henry Davis, 27, made the comments during debates last week on the council’s long-held, multi-million dollar plans to revamp Magill Rd as a shopping and cultural destination and transforming its Conyngham St depot into a community hub.
After some councillors asked for the $6.8 million Magill Rd project to yet again be put on hold to seek more information on traffic, Cr Davis referenced John Kotter’s text Our Iceberg is Melting to call out his colleagues’ tendency to delay – or oppose – change.
Kotter’s story uses a colony of penguins who discover their home will soon be uninhabitable as an analogy for how different types of people respond to problem situations.
Among the group is the “no no” penguin, the archetypal naysayer who rejects every solution presented to him.
Cr Anne Monceaux dismissed the reference, suggesting scrutiny of council spending was the job of elected members.
Councillors voted 10:1 in support of the Magill Rd masterplan, which includes installing new paving, seating, lighting and landscaping at the strip’s eastern end.
But Cr Davis continued to reference “no no penguins” as elected members agreed to develop a business case for the council’s $1 million vision to revamp the Conyngham St depot with a nursery and men’s shed.
“I hope that we do not listen to the ‘no no penguins’ because eventually the iceberg will melt and will crack and we should not wait for that to happen,” Cr Davis told the meeting.
“That is what is called being responsible government.”
Speaking after the meeting, Cr Davis said the “no no penguin” reference was intended as a “cautionary tale”, rather than an attack on any particular elected member.
“It becomes a problem when the default position is to say no to everything – to be a ‘no no penguin’ – and then no decisions are made,” he said.